No 14 High StreetIan Anderson

In February this year (1986) trial trenches were cut in the basement of
the above premises to evaluate the nature of surviving
archaeological deposits prior to proposed lowering of the
basement during refitting for Reject China Shops Ltd. The
evaluation work was financed by the developer.

The existing shop lies in the area of Canterbury's Roman
Forum. Recent work by the Trust at 9 High Street (Annual
Report 1983-84) and during the cutting of a sewer tunnel
under the High Street (Annual Report 1982-83) revealed
traces of substantial masonry walls together with areas of
gravel and stone paved courtyards and it was hoped that
further, perhaps spectacular, elements of the Forum would be
present in the basement of this shop. The disposition of our trial
trenches was dictated by the architects to Reject China Shops,
Lee Evans Partnership, to establish the depth of the existing
cellar walls and to locate the position of a main sewer in the
basement area.

The existing brick floor of the cellar immediately sealed a 50
cm. thick deposit of demolition debris mixed with dark loam.
This thick layer which probably developed gradually
throughout the post-Roman period contained debris from
ruinous masonry buildings standing nearby. These
abandonment and decay levels sealed Forum courtyard
deposits, comprising banded layers of rammed gravel capped
by poured mortar bearing the scars of removed paving slabs.
During the early stages of our work the main walls of the
existing buildings were discovered to be shallow-founded and
the scheme to lower the basement was abandoned. Only the
surface of the latest courtyard was therefore exposed.

We are grateful to Reject China Shops for financing the
exploratory trenching and to Lee Evans Partnership for their
co-operation throughout.